We stand in awe of all that God is doing in this remote part of Kenya. And as we celebrate the birth of our Living Savior, we cannot help but give HIM all the glory for what only He alone can do. This past year has been a year of advancement. It hasn't come without struggles, because any time you serve the Lord you will see the enemy try to stop the movement. But we remain in the battle as we always have, knowing who wins in the end. YEAH GOD!!
The year 2022 brought more children and more missionaries to New Beginnings. Our primary school is now at 350 attending and our high school now has over 80 in attendance. Our sponsor program is now helping 150 children. Some live within their homes and most live at New Beginnings.
We are working very hard to keep the children connected to their families. This connection is very important and even for those who are solely in our care, we work to find a safe family connection for them. It will mean all the difference in their success after they leave New Beginnings. Our social workers do a great job taking the children for supervised visits and when possible leaving them for a short visit. This helps the children to be reintegrated back into the family again. Often it is extended family that we need to search out to find a safe place for them if the immediate family is gone or not a safe environment.
Our child welfare department has really stepped up within this past year. We have hired a Director of Child Welfare who is doing a great job overseeing the house parents and social workers. This has really changed the way things are handled for the better. We are happy that recently the government placed a District Children's Office in our local town. We now have better access to that office for any issues or concerns we might have. It has been a good relationship but I think we might be teaching them much about child care. We often find we are one step ahead of what the government is now requesting.
This year we have begun a new program for our high school students. We request their families get them certain items/supplies that they will need before they return from home visits. If the student's family is not able to provide these, we offer the student the chance to work to earn some money. The students make a small amount per day and spend the time working and studying. In the end, they are paid and a social worker escorts them to town to purchase the things they will need. This has really been successful in helping our students get a better worldview. They learn to work for what they get AND they learn to budget and spend their money wisely when they go to town. They return beaming as they show what they bought "with their own money." This is a fantastic way to help them understand things are not just given to you, you must work for what you get. It has also cut back on "theft and lost items." They take much better care of the items they worked to get. Shortly after we started this program, the government did training requesting other centers to consider this idea.
2022 also brought about the start of Family Meetings. These are held 2 times per school semester for each dorm. A leader and secretary are chosen for each family unit and the students run the meeting. Notes are taken and submitted to the administration. The students now feel they have a voice. We also have an opinion box that is under 3 locks and keys. Students can put any complaints or comments in the box and about once a month the box is opened by three people: one admin, one trusted female staff, and one student. All complaints are reported and taken seriously if an investigation is needed.
We started family visitation day each month as another way to try to keep families involved with a child even if they are in our care.
We have made it a goal to make New Beginnings more self-sustaining. We have started with a poultry program that is now feeding eggs to our staff and children. In the future, we hope to sell them at our community shop, which is a top goal for 2023. We have increased our gardens and have a goal to grow all the kale we need by 2023. We are also working to grow other vegetables and have even planted many papaya and banana trees. Another goal in 2023 is a greenhouse and we have a U.S. university that would like to do a water distribution project with us. This will really help our gardens and supply water around the entire compound.
We have finished our preschool classroom and also replaced our mud house with a beautiful 6-bedroom house for our female staff, complete with indoor bathrooms. They love it.
The last half of 2022 brought some changes to our administration. Instead of one director we now have four directors and one manager who doesn't direct the departments but makes sure they are moving forward. We now have a Director of Child Welfare, a Director of Education, a Director of Finance, and a Director of Operations. Only one of these was hired from outside; the rest were promoted from within. We believe that you can teach someone to do a job but character cannot be easily learned and knowing someone first gives us a better idea of their core values and if they are our core values. This also shows our staff that New Beginnings is a place to work and grow. We are planning a staff day in early 2023 when we will formally introduce our directors.
We are also pleased to share our 2022 graduating class of 17 young adults. Join us in congratulating Dave, Papa John, Anji, Tyson, Irene A, Pamela, Eric, Kijana, Angeline, Dickson, Joseph, Norah, Austine, Linet, Derick, Phenny, and Irene J!
A final exciting change for 2022 is our Intern Program. This is offered to many of our students after they graduate from high school while they are waiting to enter a college or university, and even while they are attending these schools as a way to earn some money during school breaks. We now offer a training session each week and work with the interns to learn life skills, business skills, computer skills, and job skills. This program has become a real treasure for our students to transition from life at New Beginnings into the world.
New Beginnings Interns
We are also beginning to see the fruit of our labor as we now have 8 of our former students working on our staff. From teaching, to finance, to kitchen, and grounds, we prefer to hire our former students over almost anyone. They know and understand the challenges and our core values.
As you can see God is doing miracles at New Beginnings. Every day is a New Beginning when God is in charge of your life.
May we all worship Him this holiday season and remember the reason for the season. JESUS!
There is still time to donate toward school shoes and socks, uniforms, and textbooks for our school children. We need approximately $30 per child to purchase shoes, socks, and uniforms. You can give as much or as little as you want to help us reach our $5,000 goal. Donate here through PayPal or mail a check to:
Shalom Christian Missions
1255 Mill Creek Rd
York, PA 17404
Thank you for blessing our children this holiday season!
Matching Funds for New Vehicle until the end of December!
Thanks to a generous donor, we have an opportunity to match up to $10,000 donated toward the purchase of a new vehicle for the Children's Center! So far, we will receive about $2,000 of the matching funds, and there are still a few more days to raise money toward this great need.
We plan to open a small store in Nyasoti, and will use the new vehicle to carry supplies, as well as to transport missionaries, luggage, and children to various appointments and trips.
More details are on our Vehicle Fundraiser page, as well as a video from our matching donor and missionary Colin. Thank you for giving toward this need!
Bookbags
Every July, we give each of our school children a new drawstring bookbag for school. If you are like to sew, please contact us and ask for the bookbag pattern!
Bras and Pajamas
Currently, we have a need for bras (all sizes but not more 34" band size) and pajamas for our girls.
Please bring/send to our headquarters:
Shalom Christian Missions
1255 Mill Creek Rd.
York, PA 17404
We so appreciate your donations!
Please continue your prayers for our ministry to the orphans of Kenya. If you or your church are not currently on our Prayer Warriors list, contact us so that we can be sure to add you. We have weekly prayer requests going out.
We would also love to meet with you for a time of fellowship and prayer. We would be honored to come to your location, whether it is at your home or church, to pray for the needy of Kenya. These are just very blessed times and we appreciate them so much. Let us know if you would like to schedule a gathering!
Applications are being accepted for our July 2023 mission team.
Spend your days immersed in the culture and lives of the children who call New Beginnings Children's Center HOME.
Show the love of Jesus to a remote community through home visits to their modest mud houses while taking supplies to the poorest widows.
Change their lives AND change your life...FOREVER!
Tentative Dates for these teams are:
July 23-Aug 6 (2 weeks) $1500 + airline ticket
July 9-Aug 6 (4 month) $2000 + airline ticket
Tentative Dates for these teams are:
Jan 22 - Feb 5 (2 weeks) $1500 + airline ticket
Jan 8 - Feb 5 (4 weeks) $2000 + airline ticket
Download an application and find more details on our Missions page. You can also call us at 717-586-6945 for more information.
Travel as a group OR travel alone and make new friends who will serve with you.
Discounts for leaders (of groups of 10 or more) and we do all the training/planning. Make plans to bring your whole group. Must be 13 or older to travel without a parent or guardian.
Set up the dates NOW while there is plenty of space open.
Can't make these dates? Contact us for other dates. This is a unique opportunity to experience life in a very remote part of the world.
Don't pass it up!
For those who would like to spend a month or more with us, you can request to come as an intern or a long-term missionary. Interns will be assigned a specific job to do while you are at New Beginnings. Long-term missionaries will use their gifts and talents wherever needed to support the staff and mission at New Beginnings. We will work with you to figure out how you can best serve!
Must be over 18 years of age to apply as an intern/mentor. Find details at our Long-term Missions page or contact our office for details!
Eliver is 15 and just finished 8th grade. Her family has donated land to start New Beginnings even though they live in abject poverty. Without a sponsor she will not be able to afford for her to go to high school. Please pray for Eliver to find a sponsor. For just $40 a month you could change her life.
Our newest addition to our staff is our Director of Education. We welcome Ben to this position. Ben has been part of the New Beginnings family for over a year as the head of our primary school. We are excited to have him move to this position and make sure things for both schools are going on well. He has a big job ahead of him as the government is making big changes to the school requirements. Please pray for Ben and his team as they work to make our school the top in the district.
Ben, our new Director of Education
Our staff house and preschool classrooms are now finished. PRAISE GOD!
We are awaiting the needed donations to move forward on the electricity and our new girls' dormitory.
Our biggest need is a vehicle. For our center to become more self-sustaining we need to start some businesses and that will require a vehicle. We have plans to open a small community shop in early January but it could have the potential to grow into a major supplier. The vehicle will also bless us in transporting our teams and children to various places.
NOTICE: All donations for the vehicle submitted by the end of December have a matching donor of up to $10,000. Please consider a donation of any size to help us reach our goal and we are currently receiving $2,000 of the matching money. WITH YOU, we can do it!
We have until the end of December to reach that $10,000 goal or more. Consider a one-time gift!
Building for their future:
Our electrical installation has been stalled awaiting the needed funding to continue. Please consider a gift to help us place electricity into each of our buildings. We have the electricity to our compound but await the needed wiring to install it into our buildings.
Renovations and Upgrades Total Donated Balance needed
Staff Housing for female staff $10,000 $10,000 $0
Electricity for the center $10,000 $3,000 $7,000
Girls Dormitory/Computer Lab $15,000 0 $15,000
Vehicle $30,000 3,750 $26,350____
$65,000 $16,570 $48,350
Any size donation to our Building Fund will help us reach our goal. Donate TODAY!
"Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and
multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness."
2 Corinthians 9:10
Please join us in praying for finances for these projects!
Currently, we have 14 students in colleges/universities throughout Kenya. Our scholarship program is a great way to invest in advancing a student's education past high school. You can give to help a certain student or donate to help any who are waiting.
Students currently attending on first year scholarships are Emmanuel, Sharon, Newton, and Ian.
Sometimes our high school graduates contact us when they have been out in the world for a little while and find themselves in great need of help to go the Next Step. Some who finish our program have found jobs or have families that will help them get to the next step, but sometimes our graduates really need just that extra hand-up.
We have started a scholarship program to help these students. This is our Next Step Program. These formerly sponsored students come to serve our center as interns so that we can begin to train them and see if they are serious about this decision. Then we help them go on to colleges to help them move forward. Those currently in our Next Step Program are Jane and Susan. Felix and Sharon have recently been hired as part of our staff after completing training in different fields.
If you would like to give to help these graduates, your one-time or monthly donation of any size will make it possible. Currently, we have several young adults working toward their goals. If you would like to help them, I know it would be greatly appreciated. Donate here and select 'College/University Scholarship Fund' to help a young person achieve their goals!
UPDATE: Jane was delayed until January to start her education. She has remained serving as an intern while she waits. She will study to receive a diploma in Social Work.
Susan finished our program with a certificate in food and beverage. She spent some time working in Nairobi. The big city did not really appeal to her and she later returned to our area and has struggled to find permanent employment. After working in our kitchen for some time, she is now attending further education in catering.
Please share this great need with your family and friends.
Brighton is 13. His mother is a single mother, and he has three siblings. Brighton's mother struggles to care for the children. Brighton needs you! Sponsoring Brighton provides him with a home, meals, medical care, and an education. You can sponsor him as a full or partial sponsor, either way will be a great blessing to him! Visit Brighton's sponsorship page to become his sponsor!
Kerry is 9 years old. He has faced abuse most of his life and is in need of a safe home place to live and learn. Kerry needs help.
Sponsoring Kerry provides him with a home, meals, medical care, and an education. You can sponsor him fully or partially, and either way you will make a huge difference in his life! Visit Kerry's sponsorship page to become his sponsor!
A child is praying...are you the answer?
100% of all sponsor donations go to help the children.
"..when you did it to the least of these...you were doing it to me!" Matthew 25:40
If you would like to sponsor a child, please visit our Sponsorship page to see which children have been praying and waiting for YOU!
If you do not wish to sponsor through Paypal you can instead let us know which child you'd like to sponsor and send a personal check to our address:
Shalom Christian Missions
1255 Mill Creek Rd
York, PA 17404
You can BE THE DIFFERENCE in the life of a child!
Shalom Christian Missions is a 501(c)3 non- profit organization,
dedicated to serving children in need throughout the world.
All donations are tax deductible.
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Eagle Christian Ministries - York, PA
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First Baptist Church - Smithville, TX
Great Reward Ministries-Wrightsville, PA
Hametown Associates - Glen Rock, PA
Harvest Chapel Children's Ministry - Abbottstown, PA
Kirkland Electric - Wedowee, AL
Mansfield Christian School - Mansfield, OH
Mt Gilead UMC--Shermansdale, PA
Trinity Lutheran Church - Crestline, OH
The Left Hand - Farmington, MO
Zion Bible Church - York, PA
We would like to add your business or ministry to our list! Contact us TODAY!
May God bless you as you pray and give to help the children!
Donations may be made through PayPal
or you may send your donation to:
Shalom Christian Missions
1255 Mill Creek Rd
York, PA 17404
(717) 586-6945
These two children are at the top of our list of children needing sponsors. Click one of their pictures to read more about them.
Meet more children in need
